And speaking of jealousy....

[aya*abouelnasr 0]

Sometimes it seems that the very ones that have repeatedly married MENA men are the ones who post the most warnings of the perils of being married to a MENA man.

I was never treated differently or stared at, or treated discouteously when I was in Jordan. In fact, I don't think I have ever been treated more respectfully in the US. Maybe it was because I was with my husband nearly everywhere I went, but maybe it wasn't. I wouldn't know. The fact is that I had been warned, and had a preconceived notion, that I would be treated differently because I was Amercan, and it never happened, not that I was aware of.

As far as being accepted into his family? On the day we married, his mother took me to the side and asked me, if very broken english, if I loved her son. My respnse was, yes, with all my heart. She kissed me on the cheek and said, then I will have you as my daughter. When we took the pictures of the wedding party to show her she kissed each picture, the night before I left to come back to the US, she cried. There have been SO many times she has wanted to come to the cafe' to talk to me and to see me to know that I am okay. On my birthday, his sisters all sent me gifts, and are always asking me when I am coming back to Jordan to see the babies. His brother recently married, and got on the phone to ask me why I was not there to help his new wife with the preparations, and why I could not be there. So, yeah, I think I have been pretty much accepted into the family. LOL

[doodlebug 3]

what's the one with the turkey leg?

That's a pilgrim.

Where's the bonnet?

I think it's one of those "wenches" that dresses up at those Renaissance Festivals. They eat turkey legs!!!!

My favorite is the one in the 3rd row that is compensating for something

What about the fifth one from the left top row...........

[Ban Hammer 13,276]

what's the one with the turkey leg?

That's a pilgrim.

Where's the bonnet?

I think it's one of those "wenches" that dresses up at those Renaissance Festivals. They eat turkey legs!!!!

My favorite is the one in the 3rd row that is compensating for something

What about the fifth one from the left top row...........

i guess we know why she's getting a visa

[allousa 1]

what's the one with the turkey leg?

That's a pilgrim.

Where's the bonnet?

I think it's one of those "wenches" that dresses up at those Renaissance Festivals. They eat turkey legs!!!!

My favorite is the one in the 3rd row that is compensating for something

What about the fifth one from the left top row...........

i guess we know why she's getting a visa

To Left top #3...Is that a spear in your pocket or are you just glad to see me!!!! :lol:

[Fandango 1,439]

I think it's strange how 'feeling jealousy' equates to categorical proof that a marriage is real....if that were true, I can see where some might go looking for perceived jealousies where there are none.

________________

Oh, and no jealousy in my experiences...I am olive skinned and in the NE England, I do stand out (much like another poster with a Scottish partner)....anyways, I was welcomed into D's area with open arms by everyone. They are all like a second family to me.

People did comment about my American-ness...one guy used to call me 'Miami' when he saw me....another friend of mine (he's nuts) used to hug me and say 'Hello my favorite American'...and when Little Britain came out, it was a running joke that I *was* the only American in the village....but it was all in good fun and done with the best of intentions. After a couple of years there, when someone new would hear my accent and freak out a bit, it was like 'yeah yeah I'm American, get over it'

[Henia 11]

Anyway the OT was a spin off of the thread called Long distance relationship jealousy... so this post was the jealousy of the the SO's jealousy, not the SO. We should get back it or have it closed.

[Caladan 19]

Even if the man were the most marriageable of marriageable bachelors, I feel that 'jealousy' would be a poor explanation given competing explanations of curiosity, worry, and wonder. But I also think that were I to say to someone 'don't worry about them, they're just jealous', I'd probably be making excuses for someone's behavior without really wanting to get into it.

[Nasturtium 500]

Jealous women exist in every coutnry but how can you just pin point one out by looking at her? What if she is just admiring your sense of style?

You know they built this new mall in Irbed, and I went there with my husband the last time I was there, and bought a small turkish coffee dish set. I wanted this one that had stylized grape leaves (that looked more like red japanese maple leaves). Anyway, I looked over all the dishes and there were about 3 women who started to watch me intently, and move from their dishes over towards mine... These were in one of those giant piles in the aisle with the price written on it. Anyway, mine said 5JD which I thought was good even though the other styles (ugly) were 2,50JD. So I decided to get it. They dropped theirs as soon as I moved and picked up my style and then followed me into the line and asked my husband to ask me why i chose this one, and how they liked it too, etc... what kinds of things did I have in my kitchen.. It was really strange at the time although I realized they were interested in new styles and maybe figured I had some kind of different perspective.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

what's the one with the turkey leg?

There are a couple I'm not sure I've figured out. Maybe it's the stereotype that all shapely women must be starving themselves ?

[Nasturtium 500]

WOM-- It looks like aq blow-up doll to me, so I figured it was a "bimbo."

[doodlebug 3]

WOM-- It looks like aq blow-up doll to me, so I figured it was a "bimbo."

I think the "bimbo" one is the one with the big boobies and the mouth wide open.

[Nasturtium 500]

Oh, are you guys talking about the chicken one then? yeah, that's probably someone starving themselves.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

WOM-- It looks like aq blow-up doll to me, so I figured it was a "bimbo."

I think the "bimbo" one is the one with the big boobies and the mouth wide open.

Since they're all supposed to be stereotypes, I interpreted that one as meaning "women are always talking." Which is of course a heinous heinous lie !!!!!!!

[morocco4ever 63]

I'll be honest and say that I think people tend to see what they want to see. Some women really thrive off of considering themselves the object of envy.

Sorry if I am repeating anything here, but I haven't finished the thread.

If it isn't jealousy what is it then? Purhaps prejudice? The fact is that you can tell by the look in their faces if they are merely curious. But they don't try to hide a look of some sort of nastiness. Maybe it isn't jealousy, but sometimes thats all we can attribute it too in many cases when you have done nothing worse than exist.

How do we know if the jealousy is not actually jealousy but curiosity instead? I've been stared at in Egypt on a few occasions but never thought of it as jealousy. How can a complete stranger who doesn't know me or my husband be counted as jealousy? I don't know anything about Algerians or their culture so perhaps they act differently than other Mid Easterners/N. Africans.

This is always my question.

Let's be honest here. Lots of the men marrying western women are un-marriable in their home country. What, exactly, is there to be jealous of? They can't or won't provide what is expected of them, so why would women be jealous of the western women who will marry them?

Maybe they don't have anything, maybe they do. When it is a stranger to them they really don't know, but one thing to keep in mind that in Islam a man is allowed to marry a Christian and a Jew, but a woman can only marry another Muslim, so this reduces their chances to marry greatly when a Western woman marries a muslim from their country.

[Caladan 19]

"Greatly" reduces their chances? I kind of doubt it. There aren't that many visas per year, and if what peezey's saying is correct, these guys weren't in the most-eligible-bachelor category anyway. The nasty looks could be for any number of reasons, probably just because the guy broke a cultural norm.